Wednesday we drove the hour long mountain road to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was heavily wooded, unlike the lower altitude South Rim.  The light was poor, very hazy.  It was not plain whether the haze was due to the drift from distant forest fires, ultraviolet radiation, or some other suspended particulate.  It frustrated any attempt to get good photos.  Late in the day it rained and reduced the haze but brought in more clouds.  The only benefit was the appearance of a large and beautiful rainbow.  At one point it was a partial double rainbow.  We ended up driving home in the dark on that seemingly interminably long winding mountain road.

Overview behind Lodge.  Note haze in canyon.

Betty ponders how to get good photos in haze.

 

What a shame all this was clouded with haze

Steven and Betty in rain at Cape Royal on North Rim of Grand Canyon

Then a rainbow appeared (see above it a second rainbow disappearing)

Cape Royal in the rain

Betty at Angels Window

We did enjoy having lunch in the Grand Canyon Lodge restaurant with fellow members of the RV tour .  This is an old but well maintained lodge in a well designed and maintained national park.   It seems the oldest parks are the best.  So much care and pride went into their design and sense of purpose.  We then hiked along the rim dodging the youthful daredevils prancing dangerously around the rim taking selfies.

Grand Canyon Lodge Dining Room

Betty enjoys her second hot chocolate

The Lodge has a large room with bay window for viewing the North Rim

Viewing room of Lodge from inside

The RV park we stayed at was the Kaibab CampeRVillage.  Its advantages were being the nearest RV park to the North Rim that has full hookups and is very quiet and woodsy.  Its disadvantages were having only 30 amp electrical service,  being small and cramped with numerous large trees in the way of parking large motorhomes, having strict rules for use of water (no washing vehicles, no doing laundry in your RV, and no filling your fresh water tanks), and no running generators to allow both air conditioners to work (30 amps will only power one air conditioner).  Unhooking the dinghy had to be done outside the park on a long and very dusty road.  Once again the motorhome and dinghy were covered in a thick layer of dirt and we were not allowed to wash it off.  It was a very primitive park, but better than what one finds at the North Rim where there are no electrical or water hookups at all.  The temperature at night dropped into the 60s, so we tried sleeping with the windows open, which sounds great but in actuality results in sinus problems in the morning.  It seems one must be accustomed to sleeping with the windows open in order for it to be a refreshing experience.

Our slot at Kaibab CampeRVillage

Dust-covered Jeep after arrival at RV park

Today, Thursday, we drove to Ruby's Inn RV Park near Bryce National Park.  As we got closer to Bryce, the rock formations around the road were amazing, just as they were as we approached Zion National Park.  Ruby's Inn RV park is the opposite of what we drove away from this morning.  It is huge, with the largest slots any of us have ever seen, and there are hundreds of them.  In the same complex are several motels and lodges, a store, and camping available in teepees (if that is your thing).  It covers acres with few trees.  It seems quiet enough, but getting access to the managers of the park requires a long hike or driving there in your car.  Clean, neat, huge, and impersonal.  Since we now are in Utah, we again have "lost" an hour going from Arizona to Utah.  So we are two hours earlier than the east coast rather than three hours earlier.

After getting set up and starting some laundry, we drove over to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Once again our senior pass got us in free.  We drove over to the amphitheatre and took some photos with our phones.  We shall return tomorrow to shoot the sunrise.